Issue 10: Tech from the Military

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22 | ORIGINS not good pilots and soldiers. Being a good pilot depends on a person’s ability. Fighter pilots know geography or air space and stay within boundaries, with radar to guide them. World War II pilots were not restricted to men, the first women pilots were assigned to the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) and flew non-combat missions such as ferrying and towing targets in gunnery schools. They were instructors and did aerial mapping. Congress did not declare the women who served as a WASP a military pilot and veteran of WW II until 1977. Women military pilots did receive wings again until 1974 and could not fly combat planes until 1991. How do types of pilots differ? A fighter pilot works with other pilots in formation b,ut has to be on their own. A pilot with a crew flies with the same crew and knows who is strong and weak. Crew concept is different. Navigators were always part of a flight crew until planes were refitted with GPS units. Navigation is an older technology, the ground based system made them few and far between. Before updates and modifications, planes used to have flight engineers. What do you do now that you’ve left the service? I left in 1982, after 10 years at age 32, but I didn’t want to retire at age 42 with 20 years without knowing I could still fly. I left the Air Force to fly as a career. I loved the Air Force and I knew I wanted to fly for a lifetime. I ended up flying a night freight plane for a small company. It was good experience but I hated it. I had a five-night-week, all night for 15 months. I used my GI bill to pay for the DC-9 typewriting qualification. I then applied at Continental Airlines and was hired in 1983. In 1985, I was a DC-9 Captain and in 1987 I taught and gave flight checks. In 2001, I qualified to pilot a 757/767; I still fly this plane. The primary difference is size and range. The DC-9 is a domestic plane. The 757 range is short international flights such as West Coast to Hawaii or from the East Coast to Scotland, England or Ireland. A 767 is all international flying. I am forced to retire from flying passenger craft when I am 65 years old, at which time I’ll have over forty-five years of flying experience. ◊ www.knowyourorigins.org
TAKING FLIGHT | 23 PILOT TRAINING The planes used in pilot training are the Cessna 172 for six weeks, the T-37 for four and a half months and then the T-38 for six months. CESSNA 172 The Cessna 172, the most successful aircraft in history, is a single engine piston based fixed wing plane that is popular with both the Air Force and flight schools for instrument training. The Air Force bought an inventory of 172s and renamed them the T-41 Mescelero. T-37 The T-37 is a Cessna sub-sonic trainer for instrumentation, aircraft handling, formation and night flying that works on thought process. This plane can only fly in two craft formations. Known as the “Tweety Bird” from the high-pitched whine sound the static thrust engines produce, it was the first military jet designed as a trainer. Cessna entered the winning design into a contest in 1952. The prototype XT-37 made its first flight from the Wichita Municipal Airport on 12 October 1954. In 1989, a contract was awarded for the T-37B Structural Life Extension Program. Today only 507 remain in Air Force inventory. Side-by-side seating in the T-37 made it easy for the instructor to observe and communicate with the student. Its flying characteristics helped student pilots prepare to transition to the larger, faster T-38 Talon used later in the pilot training program. The Foreign Training Squadron trained with the Cessna 172 and T-37. It was rare for a foreign country to pay for T-38 training and it was not to the USA. T-38 The Northrup T-38 Talon’s first prototype was designed in 1959 with production starting in 1961 and ending in 1972 with a total 1,287 trainers built. It is a more advanced, super-sonic trainer with advanced instruments and ability to fly higher altitudes with four or more planes in formation. The jet specifically engages student pilots to master supersonic techniques, aerobatics, cross-country navigation, formation, and night flying. The Pacer Program and ongoing upgrades and modifications are expected to prolong the life to 2020. Today, about 587 remain in inventory. These are also used by NASA for astronaut training. STEFG74, CC BY 2.0 | MASHLEYMORGAN, CC BY-SA 2.0 | NASA/GSFC/REBECCA ROTH CC BY 2.0 Origins Scientific Research Society
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Page 17 and 18: COLD WAR | 17 STIG NYGAARD | CC BY
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